SPERI Blog

Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute

SPERI develops and promotes new analysis and understanding of contemporary capitalism, and the major economic and political challenges arising from it.

Latest posts

The Lehman Trilogy: Political Economy on the Stage

Chris Saltmarsh 19 December 2024

Chris Saltmarsh reviews Sam Mendes’ stage production of the Lehman Trilogy. He discusses its treatment of political economy issues including the development of American capitalism, financial crisis and cultural change.

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‘The economy’, the ideational, whiteness and re-election of Donald Trump

Jessica Eastland-Underwood -  17 December 2024

As many consider the economic factors that contributed to the Trump presidency, political economy scholars should pay as much attention to the ideational as the material. While inflation provides a parsimonious explanation for the 2024 US presidential election, everyday understandings of ‘the economy’ suggest that race was as salient a factor in the final outcome.

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Part 5: A View to a Kill? Counter Accounting and the Potential to Leverage Violence for Change

David Yates -  12 December 2024

In a globalised world, is it ever possible to know the violence that lies behind the curtain of our perceived realities and consumptive lifestyles? Can counter accounting help to redress the balance, and help individuals make more responsibility-informed lifestyle choices? Part of our series 'The production of organised violence'.

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Part 4: Research-policy-industry network and normalisation of militarism

Barış Çelik -  9 December 2024

European Security Studies has traditionally focused on the functional outcomes of defence and security policies, but it should shift towards a more critical approach that considers its silence about the realities of organised violence, as well as the economic and institutional entanglements shaping the field. Part of our series 'The production of organised violence'. 

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Part 3: Conceptualising dual-use technologies and companies

Elena Simon -  5 December 2024

With wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and rising tensions between the US and China, the proliferation of arms and their enabling technologies is back on the agenda. To fully capture the breadth of the means of violence a broader approach to technologies and a closer analysis of the 'dual-use' technology dilemma is necessary.

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